I have a gut feeling that he was refused because he was a loud mouth, arrogant, dick and the owner didn't want to bother......after being told off the narcissist couldn't let it go so they made up a claim that it was based on racism. To me this is the Occam's razor in this situation.

My brother sent an article about this to me yesterday knowing how much I love MM. In fact, I got a lovely bottle of it for Christmas. I've been to the distillery and to this restaurant. I did not have any issues there, although I don't doubt that this occurred. It seems like the corporate folks are "taking this very seriously." I will continue to enjoy MM.

If you license your name to someone who drags it through the mud constantly, it's time to revoke the license. I'm on their "Maker's Mark Ambassador" program and they actually sent documentation out explaining that all of the complaints against the bourbon house are because of the licensees and not Maker's Mark. And that was more than a year ago. It makes them look bad, period.

And you'd have to question their convictions against the behavior if they don't take punitive action against the licensee. I can't believe their attorneys wouldn't include wording allowing them to do so in their contract.

pxlboy:This is probably going to denigrate into a "black people don't tip" and/or tipping thread. I think I will sit this one out.

Carry on.

im thinking restaurants would include the gratuity for a party, but still dont let me interfere with a good thread jack.

but as a private company, aren't they allowed to discriminate customers all they want? i mean, there's a country club near where i live that's legally obligated to be a EEO. but its not as if they allow non-white members.

As mentioned, but needs to be said again, the eatery only licensed the name.Much like Sprecher's goofed and licensed their good name to a place that provides (being polite) sub-par food. Really sub-par food and service.

thisiszombocom:but as a private company, aren't they allowed to discriminate customers all they want? i mean, there's a country club near where i live that's legally obligated to be a EEO. but its not as if they allow non-white members.

"Mulligan, who is described in the suit as a University of Louisville graduate with bachelor's degrees in political science and history, has been involved in at least two other lawsuits involving restaurants, and he was arrested in September following an incident at a downtown Louisville nightclub.

"In 2008, he was denied permanent disability benefits stemming from an injury he received while working at McDonald's. In 2011, he sued Applebee's for personal injury, but the case was dismissed.

bouncers greeted the white patrons, but you can reasonably infer that they were polite, given that their job is to welcome (all) customers into the bar.

has this "journalist" ever been to a location with a bouncer?! their job is not to greet anyone, they are employed by an establishment to prevent troublemakers from entering or to eject them from the premises....

This kind of behavior is not an isolated incident from Cordish. They also manage KC Live in Downtown Kansas City which also has a Maker's Mark restaurant in it. They have been accused of racism in a round-about way with their dress code. I hate racism, but I can also see where Cordish is coming from in their thinking. It's wrong to do what they're doing, but at the same time, anecdotal evidence from the past at least in the Downtown KC area says exactly what they're basing their policy on; violence and other incidents are predominantly African American historically. Still more, correlation does not equal causation. Cordish needs to completely remove race from their entrance policy altogether. Someone there has their head up their asses for not learning from years of repeated discrimination accusations.

suthrnrunt:OgreMagi: Wait a second here. The person wanting to have the party stated that it would be "100% african american". So who's being racist?

i wonder just how many of those self proclaimed african-american's have dual citizenship... thus they are liars!!!!

There was a (white) South African guy in my college Japanese class. He had answered a question by the teacher (whose wording I cannot recall) by stating that he was African-American. While true, he didn't use it in the sense that it is used here in the States.

scubamage:If you license your name to someone who drags it through the mud constantly, it's time to revoke the license. I'm on their "Maker's Mark Ambassador" program and they actually sent documentation out explaining that all of the complaints against the bourbon house are because of the licensees and not Maker's Mark. And that was more than a year ago. It makes them look bad, period.

And you'd have to question their convictions against the behavior if they don't take punitive action against the licensee. I can't believe their attorneys wouldn't include wording allowing them to do so in their contract.

This. The "it's only a licensee" excuse only works the first time. If shiat like this has happened before and they didn't lay down the law hard, they're responsible too.

The story sounded a little strange to begin with. I know some restaurant managers are pretty stupid, but I don't know of any who would ask the question "What are the demographics of the party going to be?"

I went to the distillery back in November with my girlfriend and her family. Got to taste the Maker's White that you can get only on site, and they ended the tour with bourbon chocolates which were delicious.

Fleet:I went to the distillery back in November with my girlfriend and her family. Got to taste the Maker's White that you can get only on site, and they ended the tour with bourbon chocolates which were delicious.

The point to that story is I have a girlfriend.

Honest.

Odd, I would have thought Real Dolls would have been unwelcome on the tour...

On a serious note though, the distillery tour is pretty awesome. Hoping to make the trip soon.

This story would be more believable if the accusation was that the manager had just claimed to be booked for the date of the party, or if they were to have been shown to charge a higher deposit or fee for African Americans. I suppose it's possible, but I find it hard to believe that even the dumbest and most racist restaurant manager would be this blatant. Now seeing the guy's history I feel comfortable that this is 100% bullshiat.

StrandedInAZ:thisiszombocom: but as a private company, aren't they allowed to discriminate customers all they want? i mean, there's a country club near where i live that's legally obligated to be a EEO. but its not as if they allow non-white members.

That's addressed in the article I read about this earlier.Here's the link

This article doesn't clear it up either. The "restaurant" in question isn't a "restaurant". It's called a "House and Lounge". It has "bouncers" that prevent people from walking in and getting service. So far, nothing has indicated this place isn't a private club.

The article goes on and states:As defined in KRS 344.130, "place of public accommodation, resort, or amusement" includes any place, store, or other establishment, either licensed or unlicensed, which supplies goods or services to the general public or which solicits or accepts the patronage or trade of the general public." In other words, a restaurant, such Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge.

I don't know if the Kentucky state law (the only law which seems might apply here) applies to this place if it's a private nightclub. Does a private nightclub render service to "the general public"? I don't know, depends on your definition of general public. Also note that KRS 344.130 explicitly excludes private clubs whose members determine the policies. Though it says nothing about private clubs whose members don't determine the club's policies.